I am interested in all humanist disciplines, but my primary research specialty has been the history of “medieval Middle East,” in particular political practice and thought, historiography, messianic beliefs and movements, and cross-cultural/trans-regional connections and encounters. In my work on “Islamic” political thought, I highlight the historical context in which political ideologies emerged and articulated to argue against normative, essentialist, and Orientalist “exoticization” of a vibrant and dynamic tradition of political thought in Middle Eastern history. In my work on messianism I examine the relationship between rulers and religion in order to understand political action. More specifically, I attempt to understand the impact of messianic and apocalyptic expectations on political and institutional changes in early Abbasid history. By drawing on historiographical sources as well as records of Muslim and non-Muslim apocalyptic prophecies circulating among the general public and educated elites alike, my book, Messianic Beliefs and Imperial Politics in Medieval Islam, illustrates the pertinence of messianic beliefs to caliphal politics and the responsiveness of the caliphs to widespread concerns. I am currently working on two large projects: the caliphate as empire, in which I examine the caliphate as a form of rule and form of authority, and the idea of world history in medieval Islamic historiography.

Education

Ph.D. The University of Chicago, Department of History, Chicago, IL. June, 2002.

Courses Taught

Middle East to 1250 - Encounters: East and West - Modern Middle East - Islam and Modernity - Advance Studies in Medieval Islamic History - Islamic Civilization - Introduction to Islam - Medieval Islamic Political Thought – Literatures of the Islamic Middle East - Ottoman History - Islam and the Mediterranean - World History - Modern Standard Arabic (for beginners and advanced students) - Advanced reading in Arabic - A City of Peace: Baghdad in Medieval Times - Caliphate in Theory and Practice.